The UK national dog adoption service DogsBlog.com is celebrating an incredible August as the site reports a staggering rise in the number of dogs adopted during the first ever national dog adoption month.

The website, which set up National Dog Adoption Month partnered with animal health company CEVA, has also reported:

• 227% month on month increase in number of dogs rehomed
• 282 dogs successfully placed in new, permanent homes
• 473 homing enquiries received during August, an increase of 194% on average months
• A ten-fold increase in the number of rescues applying to list their dogs on the site
• An 85% increase in the number of people prepared to accept professional advice for their dogs rather than give the animals up (preventing 36 dogs from entering the rescue system)
• Relieving the animal welfare sector of £684,484* of financial burden

There was more good news as the National Dog Adoption Month main campaign message of ‘not broke, doesn’t need fixing’ which was aiming to educate would-be dog owners that most rescue dogs are not damaged goods or problematic pets, reached more than 6m people in the UK thanks to a concerted media campaign.

DogsBlog.com and National Dog Adoption Month co-founder Ryan O’Meara was overwhelmed by the success of the inaugural event, “It’s fair to say National Dog Adoption Month has been a roaring success. So many people got behind the event and its key message. The most rewarding thing to any event or awareness campaign of this nature is not that the message was well delivered, but that the message actually worked!

Now there at least 282 dogs in new, permanent homes and who knows how many other people have felt encouraged to consider adopting a dog as a result of this campaign. We couldn’t be more pleased and only hope the message will stay with people that adopting a dog is not a second best or runner up method of acquiring a dog, it’s actually, for many people, the best way to get a dog.”

Adopting a dog is also attracting a number of celebrity dog owners. Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’ producer Mark Ronson has recently adopted and UK artist Lilly Allen is about to adopt a dog from Battersea dogs home, George Michael, John Barrowman, Geri Haliwell and Drew Barrymore are just some of the other stars who have enjoyed the enormous advantages of adopting a dog. Even US presidential candidate Barack Obama is being encouraged to adopt having promised his family a new dog regardless of whether he wins the presidential race or not.

Martin Clunes, who has just completed a book following the successful ITV documentary ‘One Man and His Dogs’ is another famous face happy to hear of the positive effect of National Dog Adoption Month, “Long may it continue, I’m all for animal adoption!”

Sky News presenter Charlotte Hawkins is also keen to emphasise the joy of adopting a dog, “My dog Bailey was in a dog pound and faced being destroyed if she hadn’t been rescued by a charity. I can’t imagine life without her now, she’s one of the family. I’m a big supporter of National Dog Adoption Month, and I’m really hoping it will help find homes for the many special dogs out there. Adopting a dog makes such a difference to their life, and in return you’ll get a loyal friend. They’ll make you fitter, happier, and healthier, and will give you lots of laughs along the way.”.

* According to annual kenneling costs of £6.65 per day per dog published by RSPCA in January 2008

1) Take advantage of experienced, expert dog advice from people who will go out of their way to make sure you are matched to the most suitable dog for your lifestyle.

2) Know your dog’s background. Contrary to the widespread myth that dogs in shelters are largely unknown quantities, the opposite may very well be more accurate. For those dogs who are in shelter for a period of time, the shelter staff themselves will be able to give you a great insight into the dog’s character, likes and dislikes. And even for those dogs who have recently arrived, it is not always the case that they come with no history. Often their owners are rehoming the dog due to a change of circumstance and will go out of their way to provide the shelter with bundles of historical information about the dog. The image of the dog tied up to the railings outside of the shelter with no background is certainly not the most common case of dogs in rescue.

3) Take your time getting to know ‘your’ dog before you even adopt. Ask to spend time walking the dog, playing with him or her and generally get a great feel for the dog you are going to spend the rest of your days with. This is a luxury that really only a rescue shelter can allow for and it is highly useful in enabling new dog owners to make the right choice, for life!

4) Prepare to be guided without being restricted on choice. With more than 100,000 dogs in shelter at any one time, it stands to reason that YOUR perfect dog is in a kennel somewhere just waiting to meet you. So, do your research, get a reasonably good idea of the type of dog you’re looking for and then be prepared to make a short list of dogs to go and visit. Via the comfort of your home, you can do this on www.dogsblog.com

5) Don’t believe the hype about puppies. Having a puppy is a good deal of fun. However, it really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be in terms of needing to get a dog from a puppy in order to have a solid, long lasting bond. Many owners are surprised (and shocked) to find out just how easily their dog will bond with no people if left in their care for a period of time. Puppies come with their own set of unique challenges and getting one is a decision not to be made lightly. Whatever you do though, please don’t assume that it is not possible to establish an equally strong bond and friendship for life with a dog of 6-months, 6-years or 16-years.

6) Get the ‘finished article’. Where else but in rescue could you find a housetrained, child friendly, basic trained, well socialised, animal tolerant, travel happy dog ready to take home for the cost of a small donation to a very worthy cause (subject to home check, of course)?

7) Don’t want a cross breed? No problem! For some, the image of rescue is that of kennels full of cross breeds of unknown parentage. Simply not true. If you want a pedigree breed, even some of the so-called ‘rarer’ breeds, they exist in rescue. Don’t believe it? Look here.

An unrivalled support network. Most rescue centres are so keen to ensure you and your dog lead a happy, problem-free life together, they are usually on hand to offer advice and support for as long as you may need it.

9) Don’t miss out on character building. Sure, it’s not the main reason to get a dog from a shelter but there’s no getting away from the fact, every time you look at your dog you will feel a sense of great pride and satisfaction that the happy, fulfilled life they lead with you is because you took the option to go visit the shelter. Watch your dog blossom before your very eyes and feel an extra sense of pride about the decision you made.

10) Don’t leave your choice of dog to the lottery of nature when you don’t have to! Getting a dog from a shelter enables you to do so, so, so much more in terms of assessing their suitability for you, your family, your home, your budget, your lifestyle. You’re not restricted by choice or by access to ‘problem’ dogs only. Dogs in rescue are not broke, they don’t need fixing. They just need a home.

For many, the idea of adopting or ‘rescuing’ a dog carries with it a certain image. A notion of doing a good deed, taking on a problem dog or an ill treated animal with a multitude of behaviour and psychological issues is a common perception of dog adoption. The reality is very different.

Dogs end up in adoption shelters for a wide variety of reasons such as former owners no longer having the finances to keep a dog, ill health or death of previous owner or a major change of circumstance. Within the UK animal welfare system are literally tens of thousands of dogs who would – and indeed do – make superb, lifelong family pets. In fact, choosing a dog from a shelter has many advantages over and above buying a puppy. For one, new owners can often get a great appreciation of the dog’s personality, likes and dislikes. Secondly, adopting a dog enables owner to hone their selection criteria to ensure they are taking home the perfect dog for their lifestyle. One of the major reasons why dogs actually end up in a shelter is because people often select the wrong dog for their particular lifestyle. Any dog adoption centre will work hard to avoid this happening so owners and dogs are very carefully matched.

National Dog Adoption Month is an initiative run in conjunction with the UK dog adoption website DogsBlog.com and D.A.P, which is a pheromone product that de-stresses dogs who may be in a period of transition. One of the common reasons owners turn their dogs into shelters is because they are not prepared for dogs who get unsettled when being left alone. National Dog Adoption Month is as much about preventing more dogs going into shelters in avoidable circumstances as it is getting more dogs out of shelters and in to new, loving, permanent homes.

During the month of August, National Dog Adoption Month is promoting one very simple, very important message: ‘Dogs in rescue shelters are not damaged goods. They are normal, happy, fun filled dogs who simply need a new home with a new family’.

The campaign aims to completely dispel the myth that ‘rescue’ dogs need pity or sympathy. Or that dogs in shelters are somehow there due to problems in their makeup, physical or emotional. The national dog adoption website www.dogsblog.com shows, clearly, that adoption centres are full, literally to bursting point, with all manner of different dogs of different backgrounds of various personality types. National Dog Adoption Month aims to prove to all would-be dog owners that the dog of their dreams is in an adoption shelter somwhere. All they need to do is look.

Adopting a dog is a concept supported by a growing list of celebrities. UK artist Lilly Allen is about to adopt a dog from Battersea dogs home, George Michael, John Barrowman, Geri Haliwell and Drew Barrymore are just some of the stars who have adopted a dog. Even US presidential candidate Barack Obama is being encouraged to adopt having promised his family a new dog regardless of whether he wins the presidential race or not.

Throughout the month of August there will be a number of dog adoption success stories, local fundraisers/open days held by rescue shelters and various events designed to promote the benefit of adopting a dog.

* To promote the concept of adopting a dog from a UK shelter
* To encourage and advise people on how to adopt a dog
* To provide information on caring for a dog responsibly
* To raise the profile of rescue organisations within local communities
* To promote the vast benefits and advantages of adopting a dog
* To advise on how to overcome common behavioural problems that often lead to dogs being rehomed

Information and Resources for Anyone Considering Adopting a Dog:

www.dogadoptionmonth.co.uk/advice

Promotional Graphics:

Promotional posters and graphics such as the one below can be downloaded and used throughout August by visiting:

www.dogadoptionmonth.co.uk/getinvolved/

Whilst the ‘designer dog’ craze continues to attract people who are easily tricked in to believing they are somehow getting an exotic or rare dog, people of sound mine and good taste have realised that dog shelters are full of nothing BUT cool, designer dogs.

Just look at some of the famous faces who have adopted a shelter dog:

Name: John Barrowman
Job: Actor
Dog: Jack Russell Terrier

Name: George Michael
Job: Musician
Dog: Labrador

Dogs in shelters arrive there for any number of reasons but most often through absolutely no fault of their own.

Listen to some of these stories from real people who adopted real dogs:

I’d just like to say that I feel horrible summing up the joy, laughter and love I get from Rani and Tegan on a daily basis by saying “they didn’t need to be toilet trained”.

I really do believe that they remember where they came from and somehow know that they’re with me forever. Every day they come over just for a hug, or for a 20 minute licking session, to say hi. They tell me when the pedestrian crossing has turned green if I have my headphones in and I can’t hear the beeps. They have helped me make friends. They have walked for miles and miles with me, just because I’ve felt like it, and when I’ve done that they’re delighted to turn around and walk miles and miles home again. They’ve ganged up to pin me on the sofa and lick me to death until I though I’d die laughing, and they’ve sat beside me and cuddled when I’ve been sad.

I feel that I haven’t so much adopted two dogs as a pair of the best friends I’ll ever have.

When Tegan went after a swan, and I was ready to jump in and fish her out if things got bad people told me that I was crazy for being ready to risk my life over “just a dog” and the only answer that I could give, the first thing I though of, was that she would do exactly the same for me, and she wouldn’t even think about it.

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I adopted a dog because I wanted know what the dogs temperment was. Thats the great thing about having a dog from rescue, they are proofed. I knew what Logan was like with other dogs, people, cyclists and his general behavour which was very important to us. At 8 months he was already housetrained, had basic training which we could build on etc. His personality had been observed in rescue which means we knew what to expect. And he is the most fabulous boy!

Another benefit from adopting a dog from rescue is that if anything happened to me my dog would be safe because he would go straight back to the rescue center to be cared for. I know of a man that had a dog from rescue. The man died, his family didnt want the dog any longer and was going to have him put to sleep, but the rescue was informed and they had a legal right to have the dog back. The dog was saved.

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Adopting my dog meant that I had little or no toilet training, and as an adult she was able to hold it through the night.

She was fully grown when I adopted her, so I knew how big she was going to get.

Although her background was unknown, it was fun for both of us to start again – occasionally her past showed through, but generally it was a fresh start for her.

The best part of adopting a dog, not that warm fuzzy feeling from taking on an unwanted animal, not the knowledge that her kennel space can now be used for another deserving dog, not even the knowledge that the money spent on her is a small token to how much money is invested in getting these dogs a new owner and fresh start in life.

It was learning about my dog, and her learning about me, getting to know each other and becoming best friends.

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Adopting older dogs meant that they had basic training before they came to me and have been clean indoors since day one, pretty much. Older dogs also catch onto new training more quickly than puppies enabling me to teach a pretty good “go to bed”, recall or LLW in a couple of weeks.

An older dog’s personality is already formed so I knew exactly what I was getting from even before I adopted them.

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Recently I have heard how rescues recommend you start the process of adopting a dog and I still find myself thankful at my luck in finding Pepper.

They say to take the dog out for a walk a few times before you decide – I took Pepper out once and I am beginning to think I had it all wrong, I fell in love with her and adopted her (ok had home check and then picked her up).

I had done all the research possible, talked breeds over with the vet and discussed health issues with certain breeds. I visited the rescue centers and had a list of criteria so I didn’t pick the first poor dog I saw and felt sorry for. I enrolled in training after adopting Pepper and found relatively few issues with her.

So I count my self lucky to have spotted her in the kennel with two other lurchers, I count myself fortunate to have been passed fit to have her and be able to get to know her, and I find myself richer than a millionaire for having been lucky to have had the sense to not give up on her when things got hard, I persevered with the bad times and enjoyed the bad times.

So thank you Pepper for being a lovely dog (OK I am tearing up now and she is fit and healthy), and being my companion for 8 years, and looking forward to many more.

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I have now had 3 adopted dogs, each one perfectly wonderful, I knew more or less the temperament I was going to get, all but one was house trained. The wonderful surprise of getting an adopted dog is the way they blossom in front of you. My last adoptee was approximately 2 months ago she is approx 6 years old and she still surprises me daily with new little things she has done and new things that come out as she grows in happiness and confidence.

I have had some problems too, please don’t get me wrong, but it is a great thing to give a dog another chance, put right the wrongs of previous ownership and take advantage of the training previous owners have put into the dog you now have. I would always have a rescue now as there are far too many dogs bred, sold for profit and then disregarded like last years toy craze, in my opinion. I got my last dog from a wonderful rescue shelter and she was chipped, spayed, clipped and bathed and they had done quite a few behavioral tests on her, so I knew more or less the kind of dog I would be getting. I say go for a rescue dog any day I would never be without one now!

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I grew up with a rescue dog, a jack russel sheltie cross called Cindy. She came to us already toilet trained and socialised, and fitted in well straight away. She used to chase rabbits in the park, not to hurt them, just to run alongside them once she caught up until they bolted down a hole. She’d go and fetch my mom when I started crying in my crib, running back and forth between my mom in the kitchen and me in my crib more and more urgently until mom stopped me crying. She felt it was her job to look after me. As I learned to walk I occasionally accidentally hurt her, but she would never have dreamed of hurting me. She was such an amazing dog my parents haven’t yet had another, they feel no other dog could compare to her, and yet she wasn’t the expensive dog from a breeder, she was the sad looking dog in the back of the cage at the dogs’ home with the big brown eyes, that someone hadn’t wanted.

My parents adopted Cindy thirty years ago, when procedures at dogs’ homes and rescue centres weren’t as good as today. Mom and dad weren’t even homechecked or vetted in any way, and Cindy wasn’t spayed. But she was still almost perfect, a match made in heaven. Her only vice was getting upset when we left her with my grandparents for a weekend. She was even fine being left while mom went to work part-time, just as long as she could climb on something to get to the window to see out. With all the improvements made in rescue centres over the past 30 years, I would expect even better matches than my family and Cindy to be made now.

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From low energy to high, from pupsters to wobbly old ‘uns, rescue shelters, unlike breeders or pet shops, offers the entire spectrum of canines. Trained or not quite, confident or retiring, purebred or mixed-breed. This, combined with the assessment that shelters offer, means that you can choose the perfect dog for almost every situation and circumstance. Whether you want a dog that will happily snooze under your desk while you work, or a one that will get you marching on the moors for hours and still ask for more, big or small, easy or challenging, the rescue system has your perfectly matched dog. Virtually bespoke… the ultimate designer dog.

I live with three.

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After having two adopted dogs, I probably wont go for a puppy again.

Both were toilet trained, knew basic commands, I knew their temperaments from day one.

In Kerrie’s case, she was vaccinated, wormed, flea’d, spayed, temperament tested etc and has proved to be the best dog i have ever had the pleasure of owning.

I know that she had a poor start, and by her being out of kennels, more dogs can be saved and matched to the right owners

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Getting Rosie was the only choice we had really, We weren’t in a position to be able to spend the time needed on toilet training and the fact that although she was still young she was old enough to have already had some training so made things much easier for us and me specifically being a worker 9 -5 and out of the house for longer with traveling.

By getting a rescue, the center had already been able to find out her temperment with children and were confident that My daughter would be safe to be on the floor at the same time as Rosie (they now adore each other).

So along with being able to have a dog that suited our needs at the time we have also help another dog out of the rescue system into a loving home.

We would definatly look at getting a rescue again, although we would also like to have a pup when circumstances permit. We need to wait until our bub is older first.

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I work full time and didn’t have the time to dedicate to a puppy during the day for toilet training/regular small meals etc as I am out and about, so I decided to get an older dog……..

I also needed a high energy dog to suit my lifestyle, a dog that could come on long walks for hours and spend a lot of time outdoors with me….Harry meets all those needs and we found him through a rescue!

I also wanted a playful and confident dog, Harry was neither at first, but with love and dedication he is a brill lad and to watch that come out was frustrating but amazing all at the same time! He is now desperate to meet and play with other dogs and has even learnt to play fetch!

I got a pedigree from a rescue, although his breed didn’t matter to me…….but if I’d have been specifically looking for a breed there are rescues out there that can provide this!

Harry is a character and I’m glad he’s with us, I’d recommend rescuing to friends and family over buying a pup any day as everyday he makes us smile and we feel a bit smug that we got him before anyone else could!